Clearing out My Craft Closet.
Every crafter has a box, cabinet, or closet filled with the dreaded unfinished objects, UFOs, projects that you meant to get to, might have started, but just never quite finished. In an attempt to complete my projects, I've started this blog to get me over the hump and try to finish all those pesky projects that keep hanging around the house or finally start projects that I intended to make.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS Officially Closed! Joan G won my fabric giveaway! Thanks to all that entered. I deleted everyone who posted an email address to protect it. Thanks. It's hard to believe that I started this blog 2 years ago to make closet space for my little one who is now two and a half and I have another little one that is 6 months old! On the 2 year anniversary of this blog, I am very excited to join in this year's Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day.

As this blog is about clearing out my craft closet, I am happy to send along a package with fabrics from my stash to a good home. I bought all of these fabrics with no project in particular so they've never come to anything. I think I was thinking of making a quilt with some and an apron with the red. I liked the fabric and it was a good deal so I bought it. I just haven't made the projects. Too many projects, so little time. :) It's been difficult to get projects done around here with the two kids. I still try to craft when I can. It brings me so much satisfaction. My giveaway prize features about 1/2 yard pieces of fabric from my stash. To the winner, I hope you can find some good use out of these fabrics. I would love to see what you end up making. Send me a photo if you remember. Thanks. Samantha

The white fabric did not photograph well so here is a close up. It has overlapping circles on it.

To win, please leave a comment below from December 8th to December 12th at 5pm PST for a chance to win. You can write your email at ____ dot com so your email won't be picked up by spammers. Thanks. Winner will be picked by December 14th. Sorry no international shipping. Good luck!A question for you:Do you ever buy fabric without any specific intention or do you always have a project in mind when you buy fabric?

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for helping me clear out my craft closet. :)

Thursday, December 4, 2014

I was playing at my son's preschool and created some art that I thought would make some great wrapping paper. What do you think?
If you care to use, please do not use for commercial use. This is for personal use only. If you feature this on a website, please give credit to this blog. Thanks. Samantha

Monday, November 17, 2014

I tried to start early this year since last year I was sewing the pants to my little ones costume during nap time last year.

I purchased the fabric on October 1. I know, I am supposed to be pairing down my fabric and crafty stash, but I needed fabric for the train conductor outfit and the little red riding hood.

Sickness in my family prevented me from totally finishing the outfits, but I was pleased with what I learned from making these outfits.

Here is the little red riding hood, her basket and a picnic blanket. The hood was from the Martha Stewart website. I just tried to make up the pattern for the basket.

Here is the train conductor outfit. I was scared to make the hat, but it turned out onset fully. The pattern was the Eddie cap from the mushroom villagers blog. It's a very detailed pattern with lots of photos. I probably read it 10 times fully before I cut my hat. I didn't want to mess up!

Link to pattern is here:

http://mushroomvillagers.wordpress.com/the-eddie-cap-tutorial/

The vest was a pattern I drafted from one of my boys vest. I added welted pockets and a bit of trim on the bottom of the hole.

It was fun to make these costumes. I especially love the hat. I think I might make more.

Friday, May 9, 2014

I ordered fabric for a blanket that I was planning on making for my husband for Christmas. I figured 2 weeks before would allow time for shipment and the actual making of the blanket. I was wrong.. :( I received the fabric the day after Christmas, but I did a few late nights and was able to make it before New Year's Day. After finishing the fleece blanket, I wasn't happy with how thin it was. I wanted a nice warm blanket, so I ordered more fleece, this time from a different website because of the color selection and previous experience with the last vendor and received it in days. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to work on it for more than a month. When I finally was able to work on the project, it was slow going because trying to rework the original blanket and incorporate the new fabric was tedious! Fortunately it all ended well as the end result is a large blanket to cover our whole family and thick and comforting.

The braided edge was something I saw on the Hart's Fabric website. I feel that it definitely more polished look than the tied fleece look, but it takes some time and since I made a huge blanket, my hands started to cramp after cutting a million loops and crocheting the edge.

I just finished up this baby blanket that I've been meaning to give to some friends. It turned out pretty good. A bit of imperfections show it was hand made right? :)

Thursday, January 9, 2014

I was on a bit of a bender making bags for Christmas. I was really excited how they turned out, probably more than the girls I gave them to.

I don't know if it's true, but I think the parents didn't know I made them. They turned out that good! :) I could just be imagining this thinking, but I was really please with how they turned out. I was able to use fabric from my stash and the zippers I purchased a month or so ago.

The first two bags were for a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 year old girls. Made from cotton fabrics.

I made this black bag for a teenager. 16 year old. She didn't seem too interested in it when she opened it. (oh well..) The pleather was tricky to use, but at least I used it. I've had it since college which was over 10 year ago. Ha!

I am happy that I am getting more proficient in my sewing, and happy that I made a template for these bags so that I can easily make a bag that is going to turn out perfect.